by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

Georgetown coach John Thompson III has vivid recollections of his introduction to the Georgetown-Syracuse basketball rivalry.

"I was not on the bench and/or playing, but â?¦ I was part of it," he said by phone Thursday. "Every game from Manley Field House on, I've either been at, or listened to, or watched on television and had a deep-seated rooting interest.

"Whenever these two teams get together, both teams are out for blood."

Thompson remembers sitting next to 'Pops' - John Thompson Jr., Georgetown's coach from 1972-99 - while his father watched tape. Talking with him after games. Being in the stands, just a few feet away from his father as he coached the Hoyas for all those years.

"It's something that's been a part of my life," the younger Thompson said.

That's what makes Saturday's game - the final regular-season installment of the rivalry with both teams as members of the Big East - tough for Thompson to think about, even with the possibility of a future series.

"Without a doubt, it'll be emotional," Thompson said. "As much as we both plan on continuing to play, it's going to be different. What has made these games so special, this rivalry so special - and then, in turn, made this league so special - is the Georgetown-Syracuse games. Even if we continue, they're not going to be twice a year, three times a year, with a conference title at stake.

"It's just going to be a team you play home-and-home with. â?¦ You don't want to get too nostalgic, but there's no doubt that this rivalry, Georgetown-Syracuse, is one of the most special in college basketball, and that's going to change."

If there is one positive to glean from the end of the Syracuse-Georgetown rivalry, it's that there has been plenty of time to mourn its passing over the past two seasons, since Syracuse and Pittsburgh announced their departure for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Former coaches and players have reminisced about pivotal moments, re-creating iconic moments such as John Thompson Jr.'s "Manley Fieldhouse is now closed" proclamation or Jim Boeheim throwing a chair at a postgame news conference. Great games, polarizing figures and future pros.

Like Kansas-Missouri last season, it's time to say farewell to one of the most riveting rivalries in sports - even if fans will likely see a less meaningful version of it in the future.

Boeheim, for one, said he believes new rivalries will form naturally in new leagues. For the Orange, that's the ACC. For the Hoyas, they'll keep many of their current league opponents â?? and the Big East name â?? when they break off to form a basketball-centric league next season.

"Conference realignment eventually, eventually, when they get it all straightened out, you'll have new rivalries, you'll be fine," Boeheim said. "Everything will be fine. When we started, before the Big East started, they said, 'Well, you're going to miss playing this school and that school.' You know what? They don't even know who this school and that school were now that we used to play. You'll develop all that. It all will develop."

And maybe, just maybe, an old rivalry will survive and thrive in whatever its new form might be, too.